Endark and Tej sat in the room, waiting for forensics to show up and thinking of what they'd just done.

"Has it really come this far?" Tej asked. "We're the good guys. We swore to protect all lives no matter what. Even to lay our own lives down in the line of duty. And here we just shot down innocents, no matter how justified it was. The Faceless have us down like the rest of the city. How do nine men take over New York City without saying a word or showing their face?"

"Bad men prosper because good men aren't willing to do what it takes to stop them. It's the way we have to live to keep the bad men at bay," Endark said solemnly. "I learned that when I was 12."

"What happened?"

"I was in my room. I was up later than usual texting a girl I'd just met that day. Then I heard my little sister, Ellie, yell 'no' in her room. She was six at the time. I ran into her room only to see my dad covering her mouth and trying to take her pants off. I knew my dad was a bad man, but I didn't know he was that bad until then. My dad hit Ellie so hard she was knocked out then he came for me. I just took the nearest pen to me. My dad took his first drunk swing at me then after his second I drove that pen into his throat, and he died, drowning in his own blood."

"That actually happened?"

"Yeah, then my step mom, who was only five years older than me, kicked me out of the house and threatened to prosecute me if I ever came back. But I realized that bad people do bad things, and that's what bad people will always do. I took an evil man from this world, and my sister was young enough that she suppressed those memories. She's a successful woman now who's married to a nice man and has a good family. And I believe that she has a great life because I did what was necessary," Endark stood up when we heard people walking down the hallway. He finished by saying, "So when you see me kill every single one of those bastards as soon as I get into the same room as them, don't be as surprised as you are right now."

"Unless they were smart and paid in cash," Endark replied quietly. "Tracing cash only works if it's on the person."

"It's just as good as checking those morph suits. Who's the tech guy? Butter Cat?"

Endark didn't respond. He just pulled out his phone and started dialing a number. When the phone started ringing, he said, "You're right. It's a good idea at least." Almost as soon as he was done with the sentence he started talking to Butter. "Hey, Butter, can you do a search for any purchase on at least 11 morph suits?"

After a minute of complete silence, Endark's face took on an extremely surprised look. "41 Mercer Street," Endark said quickly. "He paid with a card, we have to go there now."

Tej booked it out of the room followed quickly by Endark. They were down three flights of stairs in less than 10 seconds and in their car in what felt like mere moments. "41 Mercer Street," Endark kept repeating to himself as he turned on the car.

Tej flipped on the lights and hit the sirens. Endark pulled out as quickly as he could and started barreling down the street. All the cars were just far enough apart that they could make it through. At least the people tried.

The people were even lined up perfectly at the turn so that Endark could make it.

But that didn't make any sense.

Then as Tej studied the cars, he realized they were void of drivers. All of them.

"Endark, I don't know how he did this," Tej said slowly, "but this is going to be a trap. We need to bring as many weapons as we can carry."

"No, Tej," Endark said to him. "Just the AR's. Anything else will get in the way."

Endark peeled around the turn onto Mercer Street. A car sat halfway down the street, stopping them at an apartment complex. Endark didn't even bother parallel parking. He stopped the car right in front of the complex and ran out with Tej following.

They ran up the stairs with their guns already leveled at their shoulders. "Apartment number 39," Endark said as they hit the staircase. After that not another word was said.

Both of them knew the situation they were facing. They were invited to the lion's den. The lion who probably had his mouth open and claws extended already.

Tej's heart rate sped up as his breathing slowly stopped. Endark opened the door, and a loud bang sounded right before Endark walked through. Endark studied the inside of the room after both of them jumped. He turned around nodded for Tej to come in. Tej followed cautiously.

The first thing he noticed was that the room was completely black with 9 candles lit. Each of the 9 candles had a torn up stuffed animal next to it. A bear, a snake, a dog, a spider, an eagle, a blue bird, a monkey, a cat and a tiger. It was basically barren of furniture. Half the room was covered in plastic. A recording device lay behind the door, which Tej assumed made the noise."Welcome, gentlemen!" A man yelled almost right in Tej's ear.

Tej and Endark both jumped again and raised their guns at him.

"Where are the others?" Endark yelled. "I want all you guys in a row when I kill you."

The man just laughed hysterically and said, "Look around! They like to keep warm by the candles."

Tej and Endark looked at the stuffed animals, then when they looked back, the man had a completely different expression. It was serious and angry. "You've been trying to stop me. People can't just let things happen." He raised his hands to his head and waved them around. "People are going to die anyone. Bad things happen to people, they die, and then it stops mattering. They're dead. I'm giving people something better than life if you think about it."

"Stop playing around, and tell us where the others are!"

"I already told you!" The man spat in a thick British accent. He calmed down for a moment and said, "That's odd, I usually don't get to talk unless I'm committing my crime."

"I'm giving you one more chance," Endark said to him.

Endark didn't get it yet. Tej just figured it out. This man had schizophrenia. This man was the 9 serial killers. They were all in his mind. And Tej had to make the decision. This guy was beyond saving. He was too far gone in his madness. There wasn't even a real way to tell which one of these personalities was the genuine version. Or if he was just some empty vessel being possessed by different minds. There wasn't anyone distinguishable anymore.

So Tej pulled the trigger, landing a shot right between the man's eyes.

The man collapsed immediately, and Endark shot Tej a stern glare. "What was that? What the hell was that? We had them! Now there's 8 more."

"No, Endark. That was all 9. He has intense schizophrenia. He thinks all those people exist, but they're all just him. I got him."

"You'd better be right," Endark replied as he called in CSI.-----------------------------------------------------------------------

"What is it Wylted?" Endark asked as he walked into Wylted's office. "The case is over right? You already confirmed his schizophrenia."

"Yes, and I didn't take off his shirt while I was examining his brain," Wylted said flatly as he walked over to the table with the man on it. That was kind of a surprising statement, but Endark followed him and looked at the man's chest.

A tattoo covered his entire upper body. It was sloppy at some parts and clean at other parts.

"Wasn't that a fun game? Trust me, this guy had some great screams when I was torturing him. You have no idea how easy it was to make him think he was me. Well, I had a great time leading you guys all over the place. Enjoy his madness if you haven't already killed him. I'm going to go tear up Chicago or something. Bye ladies!"